ParaleeFrancesNorman

Paralee Frances Norman, daughter of Hugh R. and Hazel Brinegar Norman, was born January 2, 1932 in Lubbock, Texas. As a child, she lived in Amarillo, Texas, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Davenport, Iowa.

Paralee received a B.A. in English from the University of Missouri, an M.A. in English from Drake University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Norman's teaching career began in West Virginia. In 1979, she embarked on what became a long and fruitful career at Northwestern State University's Leesville / Ft. Polk Campus. She retired as full Professor of English and Coordinator of English, Department of Language and Communications, NSU Leesville and Natchitoches. She was honored for 30 years of service in August 2009 by President Dr. Randall J. Webb during the university's annual Faculty/Staff Institute. She was further honored by NSU in September 2010 in a ceremony during a football game.

Dr. Norman's professional accomplishments include the publication of numerous academic articles and reviews as well as Marmion Wilme Savage 1804-1872: Dublin's Victorian Satirist, The Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. At NSU, she was responsible for investing students with the English Essay Awards each spring for 28 years. She served the Louisiana Council of Teachers of English as President, Program Chair, Editor of Council Notes, and as a member of the Board. Dr. Norman directed two National Endowment for the Humanities / Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (NEH-LEH) Summer Teachers' Institutes and also served the National Council of Teachers of English as the Representative for Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico.

She won the US Department of Defense Patriotic Civilian Service Award for the United States Army.

Dr. Norman was a member of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church and was secretary of the Leesville Kiwanis Club. She was an active volunteer and enjoyed a wide circle of friends and former students in Leesville.

She is survived by her brother George and his wife Barbara of Orlando, FL; her aunt, Maurine Brinegar of Scottsdale, AZ; nieces Elizabeth Norman of Brooklyn, NY and Margaret Norman of Orlando, FL; nephew Nicholas Norman of Brooklyn, NY and grand nephews Winston, Henry and George. Her ashes will be interred in the family cemetery in Lucas County, Iowa.

Memorial Services will be held 10:00 A.M., Thursday, January 2, 2014, at Saint Michael The Archangel Catholic Church in Leesville, under the direction of Labby Memorial Funeral Home of Leesville.